It all started with the journalist Rabie Hinedi's question about Assala's absense from the festival on his Instagram account.

And the answer came from Al Arian that said "Assala won't take part in Mawazine because there is a person in its management that asked for a money 'commission' under the table, but she refuses to pay "anything of that sort".

In another story, Assala performed her first concert in Saudi Arabia in June, with a positive feedback from the audience, and she was accompanied by Arab Idol Season 1 winner Carmen Suleiman, who performed with her during the concert.

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